For much of its life, this site has been warning readers that, as their default position, they should always assume newspaper headlines are a lie until proven otherwise.

Today, Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper admitted it in public.

The Sun phrased it slightly more euphemistically, of course, but the meaning was still unmistakeable – “the headline will be eye-catching but bollocks, and you should look at the smaller print for something more akin to the truth”.

It’s a principle worth bearing in mind when reading the Scottish press today.

For example, if you read the first story you’ll discover that what the Herald means by Nicola Sturgeon having been “dragged into” an alleged “love triangle debacle” involving two SNP MPs is that the Herald itself has asked her for an opinion about it.

(We’re currently pondering which stories we can drag the Herald’s editor into by the cunning expedient of asking him what he thinks about them.)

In amongst the fact-free, innuendo-heavy Herald gossip piece is the aspect the Scottish Daily Mail chooses to lead its front page with – the allegation that the alleged affair between one of the MPs, Angus MacNeil, and the Commons researcher took place in hotel rooms funded by taxpayers’ money.

“Mr MacNeil, who has now split from his wife, claimed several thousand pounds from the taxpayer for stays at the hotel despite renting out a flat in London for more than £10,000 a year.”

None of that is technically untrue. But the reason MacNeil rents a hotel while owning a flat in London is that he was FORCED to move out of the flat by new Commons rules passed in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal.

£42,177 over three years is £14,059 a year – saving taxpayers over £6500 a year on the £20,600 Mr MacNeil could claim if he rented another flat rather than using a hotel for London stays. And as any readers who’ve ever stayed in a hotel will know, the cost of a room is the same whether you’re alone in it or not.

Angus MacNeil, then – IF he had an affair at all – did NOT “put it on expenses”. His expenses covered his living accommodation, necessary to work in London while representing constituents in the Western Isles.

What he may or may not have got up to privately and legally with other consenting adults within that accommodation is his own business, and didn’t cost the taxpayer an extra penny – whatever reporters like Libby Brooks of the Guardian might sneakily insinuate by slyly using the word “when” rather than the word “if”.

Nor did we run muck-raking stories about Matheson’s also-Labour predecessor as leader of Glasgow City Council, Steven Purcell, when he resigned over illegal drug use (which also resulted no charges despite Purcell admitting it openly), and we didn’t attack John Whittingdale of the Conservatives over lurid recent tabloid claims of a relationship with a dominatrix.

This site’s readers already knew not to trust headlines. But we’re grateful to today’s papers for both verifying that policy and providing illustrative examples of the creative ways that both the headlines and the text can tell several different kinds of lies.

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245 to “The taxonomy of lies”

It must really frustrate the Herald and others that after participating in quasi-successful smears against the likes of Natalie McGarry and Michelle Thomson, they just can’t lay a glove on Nicola Sturgeon or Alex Salmond, their real targets. I suspect they are doing themselves more harm than good with this poor attempt at inuendo.

Thank you for another excellent treatise. You must surely be getting jaded about revisiting the problem of our lying cheating hacks and the discredited press?

I believe we will the last vestiges of that Leveson scandal ridden, criminalised, telephone hacking, refuse-bin-raiding profession are keeping the 5% to 7% of swing voters we need to get from 45% to 60% and gain Independence in the no camp.

Once newspapers start printing something worth reading I will start buying them again, so that will be never!

As for our MP’s, get a grip. You are the most feared and despised MP’s in Westminster. If some hotty starts rubbing your inside leg it’s odds on it will become public knowledge to the great glee of the UKOK supporters. There is a fair chance she is in it for the money, employed by the media or an MI5 plant. Don’t think that just because Cameron can dip his willy in a dead piggy and get off with it that you can flit about London playing hide the truncheon. You are marked men.

I read that Herald story twice this morning and for the love of me couldn’t work out what ‘Sturgeon getting dragged in …’ was about. There was nothing in the story that in any way supported the headline.

And then second reaction was indeed, ‘What is the story?’ Someone’s had an affair? Sorry, that happens. It’s not nice and people get hurt, but it happens quite a lot.

So, someone at The Herald really must have stayed up late and worked hard to stretch credibility so far and think there was a story and, then, to dream a headline so bizarre and fantastic.

Any couples business ,even if that includes misfortune,is personal to them only.

I am certain that they have enough heartbreak without splashing them on front pages. I wonder if Mundell has had visitors at his London address since coming out?.That would not appear to be newsworthy then? Thankfully not.

There are only three things certain in life, death, taxes and the lying Yoon media will never change.

We have two choices, we either do nothing and let them carry on eroding and destroying our hope and belief in a better future for our country, or we say enough is enough, and free Scotland from their corrupt union thereby rendering them irrelevant.

It really is time Scotland woke up to the manipulation and repression of our country by the British State. If not, we may never experience a normal country in our lifetime.

“Forty six MPs have claimed expenses for London rent or hotels despite owning a property in the capital, a Channel 4 News investigation has found.”

“Our investigation raises questions about whether the new Ipsa expenses system allows taxpayers’ money to be used appropriately, and whether MPs can still gain. The list of 46 MPs include 25 Conservatives, 14 Labour, and four from the Liberal Democrats.“

Sturgeon had just given her FM speech and was being congratulated, firstly by John Swinney, and then on the other side she turned to be congratulated by Shona Robison.

Apart from that, the tenuous link to expenses and the claim that SNP politicians claim to be more moral than others, is grasping at straws, as are Yoon attempts to link it to the NP legislation.

David Maddox desperate attempts to justify this as something other than tabloid gossip were pathetic. A power couple unable to work together? They are not in the same country most of the time. They work in different parliaments on different legislation.

Hosie and McNeil are not new to WM, they know how the system works. Anyone else think that this was supposed to break before the election and that is why Hosie told Robison?

I doubt very much that Nicola Sturgeon will be seen to take sides even if that is what the gutter press really want.

Couldn’t care less about the private lives of any politician, be they UKIP or SNP. Just so long as they are not robbing the public purse or letting it affect their jobs.

Regarding Stewart Hosie, what concerns me more is I have seen him give poor interviews (on a Sunday morning) and I have had the impression he looked hungover! Not that drinking all night (every now and then) is a crime, but it is a crime to let the side down on television!

Anyway, that was just my impression from his general air and appearance. But I was thinking, because Shona is a friend of Nicola to boot, if she might find someone else in the wake of the “scandal” [sic] to head the new indy campaign this summer.

I would choose Angela Constance, who took part in the deputy race and positioned herself precisely to deal with the new intake of 100K YES voters.

Angela is a very good politician in my opinion: hard worker, straight-talking, very down to earth, likeable, good with media… Actually, the deputy race ended up with the opposite results to what I expected or maybe wanted. I thought Angela was the best candidate (maybe I am just biased towards women, who seem to be so good in the indy business), followed by Keith Brown (who is good on the UK stage having fought in the Falklands).

[Hosie’s skills obviously lie in another department: in tennis, Chris Evert was once asked to compare two former lovers, Jimmy Connors and Vitus Gerulaitis… she simply took the straw out of the bottle of Coke she was drinking and compared the bottle to the straw… maybe the Mujahadeen-loving journalist can enlighten us and do the same thing???]

You have obviously not thought this through. Either that or you have thought it through and you have come out with your total nonsense anyway. I don’t know which.

An MP can indeed pay for his/her mortgage out of salary like everyone else. Normally that would be the mortgage for their original home before becoming an MP. What is different about an MP is that they now need to have somewhere to live in London. They used to be able to claim mortgage interest for a second home. They could never claim for two homes (although some such as Flipper Darling would famously change which of their two homes was to be treated as their main home to maximise their benefit.)

So Angus MacNeil was forced to move out of his London home in order to make sure he did not lose financially. He owns the home, he cannot claim the mortgage interest so he could either sell it or rent it out. What he could not do is live in it without incurring a financial hit. Why should he do that?

“So the implication from this is that MPs have some right/claim to a second home in London even if they can claim full reimbursement of costs for renting properties or staying in hotels.”

No it isn’t. It’s because he is not entitled to claim the mortgage interest that he is having to rent it. So his property transactions are not subsidised by the public purse in any way. At the same time he needs somewhere to stay in London so he rents or uses hotels.

It is quite clear if any thought is applied that he has done nothing wrong. And as for his personal life – I have no interest whatever in that. If you do, then you are sad. Get a life.

Re Phil Robertson and comment “Gets more and more difficult to separate the SNP and Tory values.”

Yeah, I know what you mean about confusion.

I’m still struggling to understand the values of Tony Blair and his illegal invasion of Iraq, plus the hundreds of thousands of deaths.

I equally struggle with the values of Food Banks. Where did that come from? It appears that this value is shared among all the Unionist parties. Very inhuman in my opinion, then I’m just a nationalist and clearly out of step with Westminster values.

Again I struggle with the values that allow uncontrolled Right Wing economic agendas that caused the 2008 crash. Goodness me, I thought the (non) rules applied to the Bankers and Financial institutions were the root cause of this, but silly me, the Labour and Tory Governments proved me wrong on that one and nobody went to jail.

The there are the values that result in a non-democratic House of Lords making decisions that effect my life. I’m very out of step with those values. Then I have considerable difficulty understanding the values of Trident and the non-coherent defence policy that attaches value to non-usable weapons of mass destruction when the conventional armed forces are worn down to a blunt instrument and veterans find themselves on the street.

Of course, the values that saw Danny Alexander voted out by the Scottish electorate only to see him bounce back with a Knighthhood and a nice little earner fronting a bank are completely misunderstood by me.

Then there are the 20% of Scottish children in poverty that appear to be a “value” worth paying for the privilege of Westminster rule, not forgetting…………

Actually I’ll stop there. Hopefully I have demonstrated that I’m in agreement with you about understanding Westminster values. They are very tricky to get your head round.

Phil Roberson are you there this is funny,
I was wondering why you didn’t mention Labour so as I suppose this is news to you despite this being a rehash of a 2015 channel 4 investigation, would you like some information on two labour guys you must know, or at least heard of?

Jim Murphy, remember him? he was once the Labour party leader in Scotland, he owns a property bought with help from the taxpayer just two miles from the Palace of Westminster, which he let out. Over two years from 2012/13 he claimed £39,372 to rent another London flat for himself.

Or what about Labour’s Chris Bryant who claimed expenses of £35,350 in 2012/13 and 2013/14 to rent a London flat – despite already owning a penthouse in the capital. He bought the property in 2005, claiming around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims. But when the rules changed he let it out. Estate agent brochures show the two-bed apartment with a private lift and porter has since been marketed for rent for around £3,000 a month.

None of this is of course is against the rules, in fact its specifically allowed.

In June 2013 the press were full of rumours about an affair between senior figures in the conservative party. It was stated that neither of the two people having the affair were in the cabinet, and whilst the story vanished from the British press, papers in other parts of the world printed the speculation with abandon. (Israeli press gave it a lot of prominence if I remember correctly.)

Whilst the story has died down here, there are undoubtedly many senior figures in the British establishment/ BBC/media, who know of these speculations and are able to see more recent events that are currently threatening to tear the Tories apart in the light of these rumours.

The power of the press to bias news to their own agenda continues to amaze me.

When the SNP start illegal wars, crash an economy or two, broker dealls in the desert, trade arms with somewhat shady regimes, facilitate cash for access and questions and any number of other heinous crimes, or abuse high ministerial office and media access during a general election I’m sure you’ll let us know.

In the meantime they have some way to go before being comparable to any establishment party.

If you cant get a bunch of brain dead celebrities to sell your papers nothing like a juicy bit of sex scandal to sell them.

Tabliod journalism at its worst attacking someone over a non illegal act,unless falling in love with someone else suddenly became a crime in this poxy UK,no i didnt think so.

Though anything to keep the real story out the public eye oh say like electoral fruad by a political party who won an election and now sits in government with a slim majority or that same government tearing its self to bits over crass EU scaremongering about war and hitler.

Like you Rev i dont care what another human gets up to in their private life as long as its not illegal ,now if it was a story about say drugs and prostitution then i would care because that is two illegal crimes,what consenting adults get up to is none of my bussiness.

This affair story came up in ‘the papers’ part of The Wright Stuff. Unfortunately Richard Madeley is hosting. The guest picked up on the ‘expenses’ side of the story saying it was more important than the affair. Implying wrongdoing. Madeley then pipes up ‘He’s playing the system’.

Is their really any truth to the affair story? I just find it so, so hard to believe, Hosie especially, that they could be so stupid…and with a journalist! Don’t they know Westminster, the media and every Unionist in the UK are going to scrutinise their every move?

one thing that should unite everyone, whether pro or anti independence is that our media is sh1t.

Totally agree with Rev on this statement: “What he may or may not have got up to privately and legally with other consenting adults within that accommodation is his own business, and didn’t cost the taxpayer an extra penny”

Of course, many people are interested in salacious gossip but you’d think that those people already had sufficient media to get that through e.g. the Star, the Mail, umpteen crappy magazines you may still see in your dentist’s waiting room. But, great to see the Herald joining them because they’ve finally accepted their level. Let’s take bets on whether the Herald or Scotsman will go out of business first.

MJack
“It’s front page so that they dont have to talk about Nicola Sturgeons electcion to first minister in a positive way. How long do you think this story has been around before printing on the right day!”

OT but related perhaps. Kirriemuir was buzzed by what looked like fully armed, low flying fighter jets on the day, just wondered if this happened elsewhere too.

1966 all over again an thats just the queens speach FFS there,s more news in the World than ah day oot fur the royal household. Dey you,s see the damage that queens messenger Black Rod is doing tae that commons door , the fucking vandal, the Taxpayers hiv tae pay for the repairs.

This expenses issue could easily be solved if Westminster simply gave every MP the same amount in cash as a monthly allowance towards living in London; broken Britain’s capital of sleaze.

So if they choose to express their empathy for the proletariat by living in a slum at Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, they can quietly pocket the difference & put that spare cash towards for example, a Gaggia GD3 Auto Coffee Espresso Machine.

Or botox.

Alternatively, if they aspire to live in the rarefied surroundings so preferred by the attention seeking, diet pill saleswoman, Baroness Mone of Mayfair, they can dig deep into their inflation busting pay raise & enjoy smog stained views towards Tower Bridge.

Meanwhile, any MP who thinks they can nob some ambitious tabloid newspaper tart & expect it to remain a secret shouldn’t representing members of the public because that alone exposes the abyss into which their own disturbing stupidity plunges.

@ Capella says at 11:38 pm …. ”Petra I’ve been googling today looking for that chilling Reinhard Heydrich quote about how to suppress a nation’s culture and confidence but can’t track it down. I’m sure he must have studied the British Raj for hints. If anyone has a link please post.”

Capella I see that Tinto Chiel has managed to find it for you already and how apt this is for Scotland. If only the unenlightened here could see what’s going on …. has been going on for centuries now.

“Deprive the people of their national consciousness, treat them as a tribe and not a nation, dilute their national pride, do not teach their history, propagate their language as inferior, imply they have a cultural void, emphasise their customs are primitive and dismiss INDEPENDENCE as a barbaric anomaly.”

And of course Goebbles, Hitler’s Reich Minister for Propaganda, was really on the ball too:

”If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and / or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

“Meanwhile, any MP who thinks they can nob some ambitious tabloid newspaper tart & expect it to remain a secret shouldn’t representing members of the public because that alone exposes the abyss into which their own disturbing stupidity plunges.”

You forgot vote NO! G H Graham. Or rather you forgot 2 MP’s private lives what you disapprove of, means Scotland can run Scotland.

Makes as much sense in toryboy yoon world as anything else they cook up really.

They’ll keep doing it over and over until they convince, well the same people as they convince now
The SNP are the party of Independence plus they’re pretty good at all the governing stuff that we need or we wouldn’t be voting in ever increasing numbers for them

The SNP wouldn’t have 116.000 members in the party supporting and working for them if nobody thought they weren’t any good

The only thing these so called “Newspapers” succeed in doing every time they print this and all the other crap they print is to make the Independence desire even stronger
And more than me has said it, in the world of YOON they have difficulty coming to terms with the basics of learning

Just because you keep saying a thing as the Yoons do wont actually MAKE it so
Even when Davie Cameron tells the same big fat giant lie every single day of his life at the top of his silly voice

“One Nation” He loves doing that, must be his lack of education, typical Yoon suffering with the inability to learn

TD
“An MP can indeed pay for his/her mortgage out of salary like everyone else. Normally that would be the mortgage for their original home before becoming an MP. What is different about an MP is that they now need to have somewhere to live in London. They used to be able to claim mortgage interest for a second home.”
Agreed.

“So Angus MacNeil was forced to move out of his London home in order to make sure he did not lose financially. He owns the home, he cannot claim the mortgage interest so he could either sell it or rent it out. What he could not do is live in it without incurring a financial hit. Why should he do that?”

Not suggesting he should pay money he couldn’t afford. However, as you yourself point out, he was not FORCED to do what he did – – there were other options such as selling the property.

“It’s because he is not entitled to claim the mortgage interest that he is having to rent it.”
Again the imperative. He does not HAVE to rent it – it could sell it. He chooses to keep the property and we can all speculate why he made that choice.

“And as for his personal life – I have no interest whatever in that. If you do, then you are sad.”
I made no mention of his private life.

My point was to ask why he has any NEED to own a property in London if his parliamentary expenses pay for rented accommodation or hotels. He has every right to buy if he wants but please put aside the notion that HAS to.

@Phill Robertson @11.53
Really……. lolololol,
What an absolute buffoon.
I’d like to see you living in a self financed flat for half your life because your work made you do office visits.
The rules were put in place to prevent Tories from putting their posh Kensington mews properties on the taxpayers shoulders.
Now it is a level field with limits.
How dare you snipe at a guy who wants to keep a property he has bought fair and square.
As a said earlier…….,buffoon.

My point was to ask why he has any NEED to own a property in London if his parliamentary expenses pay for rented accommodation or hotels. He has every right to buy if he wants but please put aside the notion that HAS to.”

Phil Robertson, what’s your beef old fruit? You said he’s just like a tory, so why are you being such an meany to him?

Well now that we have the election out of the way, and Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, and the SNP with more seats than the unionist parties put together, these rags have nothing else to report.

The usual tactic, deflect from anything really important to the lives of people. I can just hear those who are too lazy to become engaged in what happens in their country politically, ‘they are all the same so why bother’.

It’s simply a tactic to turn off anyone vaguely vague about politics, once they have gotten past the inane headline.

The Graun is like the hello mag, well they all are really. What a total waste of paper, and energy for the printing machines and distribution! Really not saving the planet are they.

I do not know AM’s personal details but it has been reported that he is separated from his wife. It may therefore well be the case any decision to sell the property is influenced by marital and potential divorce legal considerations, they may both already be acting under legal advice for all I know.

Actually, I am interested in the private lives of politicians,especially if they are SNP politicians who have been chosen to represent the party and their constituents.
I have been in the SNP for nearly 50years and ,like many others,I have spent most of my time over the years working to get the party to where it is today. This has meant that many sacrifices have had to be made over the years by me and my family,and we are far from alone in this.
I object strongly to elected members behaving in this manner and jeopardising the huge gains we have made in the past couple of years. If they cannot see where this type of behaviour will lead,they are not fit to hold the offices they do.
Nicola and the rest of our senior officials should not have been put in this position and I hope that the people responsible are left in no doubt about what ordinary members think of their behaviour.
Neither of these MPs will ever get a vote of any kind from me in future.

SUrely the Sun article breaches the IPSO code of practice which states as it’s first principle:
“1. Accuracy
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.”

My first paranoid thought on hearing this story break was that it would not surprise me if HM gov were not behind the targeting of SNP MPs. Ridiculous I know.

We will see if Nicola changes roles and takes the summer indy push off Hosie for this. Yessers are an a tractive breed but for those of us with responsibilities you have to rein in your behaviour a little.

amazed this did not break before the election but there we are. Man has sex with woman is not exactly earth shattering stuff- it happens fairly often.

What doesn’t happen quite so often is the police investigating government MPs over electoral fraud but I understand why the man wants to push one story and not the other.

The Daily Mail photo, so called tender moment when FM comforts her friend, was actually yesterday after the result of FM vote was read out,first John Swinney congratulated her, she then turned and Shona Robison congratulated her.

So Angus McNeil owns a property in London and rents it out to pay the mortgage. What’s wrong with that? Why is it of any interest? It does not involve public money in any way.

In your original post at 10:53 you said:

“Let’s get it right – he CHOSE to move out.”

No – he was forced to move out because otherwise he would take a financial hit. It is true that he then had a choice of selling or renting it. He chose renting. But he did not choose to move out – he had to, unless he was prepared to take a significant loss. For me that is being forced.

What part of an MPs private life do you want to know, how deep do you want to get, camera in the bedroom perhaps? oh whips, must be a perv, get rid, what about masks, or vibrators, are vibrators OK?

The whole point of this story is not the act, the humanity or human frailty of our politicians, it used to highlight that such behaviour was once used for blackmail, now its just an excuse for nudge nudge journalism, sex sells, from deodorant to cars to newspapers, get a half naked woman on the front and its job done.

If you can get a financial twist, like he stayed in a hotel on business but his lover stayed over then conflict that into the taxpayer paid, you see how corrupt our press are, they stretch and distort till the only casualty is the truth. But the fact, that there are politicians and media personalities who either are having affairs, had affairs or just promiscuous and this is not printed is the real power of the press.

If you want plastic people you end up with the likes of John Redwood singing, or embarrassingly miming on TV.

I want my politicians with all the hopes and fears and human frailties as the rest of us, at least I would know they would think hard before cutting benefits or bombing other nations.

Yes, that occurred to me too and resurrected an old paranoid* thought of mine that the plan might be to instill an SNP Government at Holyrood then destroy their credibility by undermining the Scottish economy, attributing UK generated cuts to the Scottish Government and of course smearing them as much as possible.

* Paranoia: A feeling of unwarranted pessimism and suspicion of others which turns out to be untrue.
Paranoia in Scottish politics: A feeling of unwarranted pessimism and suspicion of others which turns out to have been unduly optimistic.

As for MPs and their private lives, if it doesn’t involve criminal activities, then I am not interested and since I don’t buy newspapers, I didn’t know about this story – until reading Wings.

Not only do I not want to know because I am not interested, but I would rather not know, because it usually makes me queasy.

(Many years ago, in a former life as a teacher, a small pupil at the same school was shocked seeing me out shopping. Endearingly, he apparently thought that teachers lived in the school and didn’t need to go out to shop.)

I would rather steadfastly cling to a similar belief as regarding MPs’ (private) affairs than consider their sex lives at all. I still haven’t got over hearing that John Major had an affair with Edwina Currie. (Sorry, nausea setting in again.)

As with Tam Jardine’s post I heve had the same thoughts.When the british gov can spy on the PM ( Harold Wilson)they would,nt have second thoughts on keeping tabs on SNP MPs, those 59 Scottish MPs should have be well aware of that fact.

@ Ruby says at 1:23 pm …. ”How many people here have been involved in a ‘love triangle’? I have to own up and say that I have. I went out with the same man that a colleague had been out with a year before. Nobody seemed to bat a eyelid about this scandal!”

It’s out now Ruby. Front page of the Daily Record tomorrow.

‘Hosie and MacNeil following in the footsteps of WoS’s notorious Ruby”

Actually, I am interested in the private lives of politicians,especially if they are SNP politicians who have been chosen to represent the party and their constituents.
I have been in the SNP for nearly 50years and ,like many others,I have spent most of my time over the years working to get the party to where it is today. This has meant that many sacrifices have had to be made over the years by me and my family,and we are far from alone in this.
I object strongly to elected members behaving in this manner and jeopardising the huge gains we have made in the past couple of years. If they cannot see where this type of behaviour will lead,they are not fit to hold the offices they do.
Nicola and the rest of our senior officials should not have been put in this position and I hope that the people responsible are left in no doubt about what ordinary members think of their behaviour.
Neither of these MPs will ever get a vote of any kind from me in future.’

I notice the BBC are running an almost identical article to the Mail….

And I also wonder whether people do really like reading these gossipy love triangle tales or whether the corporate media just claim that because its precisely the threat of running these stories that gives them their lobbying power.

Nothing screws people up like relationships and love, lust and infatuation know no job boundaries.

That said this is a matter for the families concerned and not for the titillation of the prurient. If one of them shared a hotel room that they were going to be staying in anyway I am not sure I see why I should care. It looks a tad forced outrage to me. (An expenses paid trip to the Bahamas would be a different matter)

Saw a picture of the journalist…was a tad jealous but that is an entirely different matter 😉

O/T
Was the Reinhard Heydrich quote this
“It is natural that people do not want to be involved with us too much. There is no problem down to the smallest egotistical longing which the Gestapo cannot solve. Regarded in this way we are, if a joke is permitted, looked upon as a cross between a general maid and the dustbin of the Reich.”

Jackson Carlaw writing to the Standards Commissioner about Hosie and McNeil.

Kaye Adams asking if we really need to know about MPs’ private lives and then doing a programme on just that.

Anything to divert from Tory Election Fraud. And yes as apparently this woman was telling all and sundry about her liaisons, I too am suspicious as to why this only comes out now. Journos and WM politicians are a very incestuous bunch.

I see the Tories want an enquiry into who jumps into bed with who when the work is finished and they go back to their hotels,
great now we will have an inquiry why an ex prime minister had sex in government offices with a minister when they were both supposed to be working!

The more I think about it the more ‘love triangles’ I remember. ‘Love triangulating’ was all the rage when I was at school. You could have a boyfriend on Monday and be chucked by Friday and then triangulate by Saturday.

Not only have I been love ‘triangulating’ I also had an affair when I was married. My excuse is that I had been separated for 2 years so I kinda considered myself young free & single. How wrong I was!

AuldRock said at 10:55am:-
“These rags should take a close look at their plummeting sales. In fact it’s a wonder the advertisers who are keeping them afloat haven’t told them to clean-up their act.”

Thinking of sharing your company brand with The Herald?
Contact
“We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to get straight through to the right person – see the list below for names and numbers. If you can’t find the right person or department below please call 0141 302 6000 and we’ll be happy to put you through.”

Well, it does seem rather manufactured doesn’t it? Now the Tories are exploiting this too…doesn’t this all seem a bit too ‘covenient’?

Putting the SNP on the ‘backfoot’?

Be of no doubt they are planning to undermine the SNP by whatever means it takes and if old gardenut up their is the ‘demographic’ they are aiming at they may have a wee hit or two. They have centuries of practice in these ploys, and they take the ‘long’ view’ drip drip drip effect. Let’s not kid ourselves they don’t know what they are doing.

Remember it’s a circle of shite and they wish to spread the shite so that everything stinks, unfortunately for us, some of it will stick too…they will make sure by keeping the headline’s suitably innuendo laden over the next week, just like they did with Michelle et al.

Question what politician wore an Everton football top when having an affair in a flat paid for on expenses?
What senior politician when told about a Scottish politician and child sex abuse said “Boys will be boys” and what connects them both, and Jimmy Saville, yes the Conservative and unionist Party!

I admit to using public money (jobseekers allowance/housing benefit) to fund all kinds of naughty activities!

I didn’t know that there were restrictions on what you could do in a flat paid for with public money.

These ‘naughty activities’ I am referring to were all FOC there isn’t a lot you can do with jobseekers allowance so you have to be creative.

What Jackson Carlaw needs to do is to see about having CC TV installed in all homes that claim housing benefit/expenses and that way he will ensure public money is not being used to fund ‘affairs’ or other naughty activities.

@ ronnie anderson says at 1:30 pm …. ”As with Tam Jardine’s post I heve had the same thoughts. When the british gov can spy on the PM ( Harold Wilson) they would, not have second thoughts on keeping tabs on SNP MPs, those 59 Scottish MPs should have be well aware of that fact.”

There’s also the well known tactic used by countries, and their intelligence agencies, all over the World known as the ‘honey trap’. Been used in fact to entrap our own spies in MI6. Just a thought.

While all eyes are on Hosie and MacNeil what do we actually know about Serena Cowdy? Bragging publicly about her affairs.

She writes online about ‘STALKING’ target boyfriends.

She’s said to have told friends that ”she saw SNP MPs as romantic revolutionaries, describing them as ‘the Mujahideen of British politicians’.”

That’s a cracker for a start. Seven hundred or so (minus women) politicians to choose from and she targets TWO members of the SNP.

Went to Oxford (Mmhh), studied Modern History at Oxford specialising in Irish political history (Mmhh, mmhh), trained as an actress (handy) and is now a political journalist (say no more).

In the past, ”she’s written for a wide range of magazines, newspapers and websites, including the Guardian, Which magazine and Time Out. At Which she worked as a senior research journalist, running investigations and writing analysis, reports and features.”

She’s also ”worked as a broadcast journalist, leading interviews, scripting and presenting videos and appearing on BBC1, Sky News and Channel 5 News.”

She says ”I utilise my acting training to the full, creating a persona with the kooky charm of (Julia) Roberts, fragile vulnerability of (Michelle) Pfeiffer and laid-back cool of (Cameron) Diaz.”

I doot Hosie and MacNeil have been duped, but by whom? Just Cowdy?

Too bad so many people have been hurt by all of this; their loved ones and the SNP.

Let’s hope it’ll serve as a cautionary warning, whatever the motive behind it, to others considering going down the same route.

Good article. And yes. Their private lives are private. However surely these men are busy enough with MP duties and their own families without ‘shagging aboot”? Late night boozy trysts take their toll. Loads of us activists could have been cavorting with married men and women but we chose to spend our time canvassing and leafleting. I know all parties are up to it but come on, get a grip lads. If you don’t have the brains to know that the snp is target number 1 and bonking journalists is stupid then really,I despair.

That being said I trust completely in Nicola, salmond and swinney. That’s three more politicians than I’d trust in any other party.

So I say to the rest of the snp – apply yourself to your role. Don’t give them any muck to hit us with. indy 2 is going to be hard work. I also agree with a previous poster – hosie should be replaced by Constance for the summer campaign. And by the way. She’s the only one of them I’ve heard give praise to wings.

@ Ruby says at 2:08 pm …. ”Petra Have you never had a ‘love triangle’?

The more I think about it the more ‘love triangles’ I remember. ‘Love triangulating’ was all the rage when I was at school. You could have a boyfriend on Monday and be chucked by Friday and then triangulate by Saturday. Not only have I been love ‘triangulating’ I also had an affair when I was married. My excuse is that I had been separated for 2 years so I kinda considered myself young free & single. How wrong I was!”

No love triangle but I do remember at age 15 having 7 boyfriends on the go at the same time. Quite a juggle. Some knew about some others. Some didn’t. It all came to a head when one visited me in a store where I had a Saturday job at the time. Then two others arrived with their mates! It led to mob fisty cuffs outside. It was so shocking, made me reflect on my behaviour, that I grew up and went ‘straight’. One boyfriend at a time thereafter followed by two husbands (at different times, lol).

My reading habits aside,I am making no judgements on their morals,and I have no time for the media,but surely the second in command in Scotland’s largest political party should have been able to forsee what was likely to happen.He has let down the party and its members by his behaviour and I find it quite depressing that posters don’t seem to accept that.

Good article. And yes. Their private lives are private. However surely these men are busy enough with MP duties and their own families without ‘shagging aboot”? Late night boozy trysts take their toll.

We all know the real shite, the stuff they have hidden and ‘spiked’ for decades, when it becomes this public generally it’s witch hunt time, they need to find anything on the SNP politicians to undermine a future referendum. To diminish their popularity.

“Loads of us activists could have been cavorting with married men and women but we chose to spend our time canvassing and leafleting. I know all parties are up to it but come on, get a grip lads. If you don’t have the brains to know that the snp is target number 1 and bonking journalists is stupid then really,I despair.”

gardenat, you don’t know if any of this is ‘true’, why do you believe them? You may as well read Mills and Boon if you believe for an instant that these papers have got the ‘story’ on any of this.

Irrespective of Stuart’s position in the hierarchy you are ‘falling’ for this ‘narrative’ by relating to it from ‘their’ point of view in describing him in those terms. That’s exactly what they ‘want you to think’? Can’t you see that?

What Jackson Carlaw needs to do is to see about having CC TV installed in all homes that claim housing benefit/expenses and that way he will ensure public money is not being used to fund ‘affairs’ or other naughty activities.

Dear God Ruby – don’t give the man ideas. He is enough of a pompous jack ass as it is.

Angus McNeil MPhas never had an affair with Edwina Currie MP and Paddy Ashdown has never had an affair with Muddly SOS. It is a calumny to say that. However Jo Swinton once claimed for eye shadow on MP expenses.To be continued when i can confirm that David Cameron once sucked a pig and now has the nick name “not faint heart”

Is Ruth Davidson married now or does she have any intention of getting married or will she just go from living with one partner to living with another.

Is all this ‘partner swapping’ & ‘living in sin’ acceptable for the leader of the Tory Party in Scotland.

What do you think Jackson Carlaw?

What about the Scottish secretary? Was it really acceptable to live a lie for so many years? What does he do now in his expenses paid home in London? Is he celibate or is he having extra-marital affairs?

It is usually the questions over judgement rather than the act itself which gives cause for concern.

Stewart Hosie was a potential future leader in my book but his lack of judgement here must cast large doubts on whether that can ever now happen and indeed doubts on his role as head of the independence drive planned. Sorry to say that because I do not think he is a bad man or lacking in capability.

How about a list of hubristic hostage to fortunes, spot the odd one out:

John Major – 1993: The Conservatives will go back to basic rights…respect for the family.
Tony Blair – 1997: Labour will have an ethical foreign policy.
Nicola Sturgeon – 2015: the SNP at Westminster will be a principled opposition.

Given the upcoming historic child abuse enquiry this is a good moment to insist it should include the Scottish conservative party as enough allegations were made that lead straight to the top including Margaret Thatcher, and sir inky Fairbairn.

” … My point was to ask why he has any NEED to own a property in London if his parliamentary expenses pay for rented accommodation or hotels. He has every right to buy if he wants but please put aside the notion that HAS to.

Either you are an absolute ignorant numptie or an exceptionally vindictive twat. I’ll opt for the second but keep the option of that it may indeed be both of those things.

Now as far as I know the MP already owned the place long before the parliamentary rule change. Not only that but, by his own hands had renovated, decorated and furnished it to a very high standard. He did not just take it on a mortgage after the rule change nor do so to make a profit at public expense.

Chic McGregor: “Stewart Hosie was a potential future leader… his lack of judgement here must cast large doubts on whether that can ever now happen and indeed doubts on his role as head of the independence drive planned.”

I’ve just realised that lol rhymes with troll.

Seriously, if I said that, for the first time 200 morons would be right to shout the word “troll”.

Andrew McLean says:
18 May, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Question what politician wore an Everton football top when having an affair in a flat paid for on expenses.
:::::::::::::::::::::
If the answer is Mellor then the shirt in question was Chelsea.
Of course, there may be more than one replica shit in Westminster.

shy unionist says:
18 May, 2016 at 3:09 pm
How about a list of hubristic hostage to fortunes, spot the odd one out:

John Major – 1993: The Conservatives will go back to basic rights…respect for the family.
Tony Blair – 1997: Labour will have an ethical foreign policy.
Nicola Sturgeon – 2015: the SNP at Westminster will be a principled opposition.

Except Sturgeon isn’t PM John Major, hard at it back to my place style with his cabinet colleague Curry and nor is she Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, taking the UK in to illegal and endless war in the middle east with a neocon Bush USA, causing the deaths of a million people and maybe over 20 million refugees.

Who is the senior Tory MP “supplied with young men or women”
who are the lawyers primed and is there a supper injunction in place so strict that even to mention it its off to the tower of London?

The whistleblower’s letter said: “I variously observed a number of MPs being ‘provided with’ young men and women.
“It became apparent that a certain select number of MPs were always in attendance at these events.”
The woman, who has already told how Mr Clarke snorted cocaine with women at party youth events, claimed Mr Clarke would try to film all sexual encounters.
She continued: “It was also known that there was a construct known as ‘Mark’s girls’ – women who flaunted themselves as his mistresses.
“These women, along with any others that took his fancy, were often instructed to flirt with the heterosexual members.
“A group of young gay men received similar instructions. I am told that they were instructed to go as far as possible, whilst Mark would arrange to film whatever encounters ensued. On a separate later occasion at an event in London, I overheard Mark and his friends discussing plans to humiliate those who ‘crossed their path’ or who weren’t susceptible to sexual bribes, by spiking their drinks and taking intimate pictures of them whilst they were under the influence.”

All of this “scandal” is a minor and unimportant detail in the grand scheme of things.
The so called reporting by the Mail and the rest of the press pack of jackals and hyenas is just what is to be expected and will be forgotten by those who read them when the next “celebrity” is caught doing something silly.
However those in the SNP in public life should try to remember that a nation’s trust has been placed in them and they are under scrutiny at all times by the hostile media.
Like Caesar’s wife, they must be above suspicion.

Fireproof Jim, if you refer to Pontifex Maximus; the point of that is she was innocent but political infighting by her husband and other senators made her an expedient scapegoat. a pasty, a diversion, oh look what I did!

Very clever Jim!
And as a Aberdeen oil worker you will be aware of Aberdeen’s reputation as a sex workers paradise?

I’m sure the dust will settle soon enough but there could be more to come out.

From a PR perspective, I think Hosie might consider responding to rumors circulating on social media that he wears white Y fronts. That sort of thing’s got implications for the party as a whole and needs to be dealt with — especially if true.

I suppose this all means our desire to control our own affairs, get rid of Trident, promote world peace rather than bomb innocent Muslims, and build a real economy, one that goes beyond corner shops and bookmakers, should be put on the back-burner for a few years?

annie says:
18 May, 2016 at 2:02 pm
I hear Jackson Carlaw has now reported both McNeill and Hosie to Westminster Standards saying public money was used in this affair.

Can we first of all ask the Westminster Lack of Standards Committee to refund the £1,000,000 wasted on a Public Enquiry through Ian Carmichael’s deliberate LIES?

If SNP Representative’s are using the same parliamentary expenses schemes as All the other parties, then he has no case to answer.

Have a wee look at the link to Tory Cecil Parkinson’s affair, handicapped “love” child, and at how he abandoned Mother and Child. Thatcher stood by him to the end and the UK Media reported that “He” was broken?

Cant remember their being a law that says you have to have no life if you are a politician or cant have a relationship with the opposite sex or the same sex for that matter today even if that was not the case years ago.

Fake yoon outrage in bucket loads though i do wonder why they never used this before the election,bit of a missed open goal if you ask me or maybe they were just worried we would start bringing up their dirty laundry.

When you have PM linked to shagging pork ,a chanceller linked to snorting coke off a prostitutes butt, rich and famous having sex orgies,spanking and other well kinky shit like dressing up as the SS and getting whipped in chains,i dont think you have much ground to complain about a guy meets a girl.

I didnt even care when Blunkett and Prescott were flinging it about shall i continue yoons i can go further back if you want with a certain miss Christine Keeler? and the Profumo affair,or should i stop now hmmmm.

You have made good points. There are many voters, particularly older women and those in the Isles who would find this behaviour unacceptable. That’s lost votes. Politics is about trust and these voters will think ‘if they lie to their partners – the one person they should care about the most – then why should we trust them?’ Brushing it off as a private matter and men not being able to keep it in their trousers – boys will be boys – is naive.

I believe these are still accusations as such. Guilty until proven innocent and all that. And we know they are nothing compared to dodgy dossiers. However what we think and what voters think aren’t always the same. We are up against the uk establishment. We don’t give them ANY ammo. And we work hard. OWN GOALS CAN COST THE MATCH

@ ruby

Em no. Celibacy is not part of marriage. I think you meant fidelity. Nobody’s expecting any married politician to refrain from sex with their partners. And if they want to muck about? Either get divorced or negotiate an open marriage. Simples!

The difference is, that both John Major and Tony Blair were personally and hypocritically responsible for undermining their own pledges. Major made it a principle to defend family values and Tony Blair made his so-called ethical foreign policy an important principle of his government. Both, together with members of their individual parties, spectacularly destroyed those principles.

Nicola Sturgeon is not responsible for two MPs allegedly having affairs. Many MPs at Westminster in other parties have done likewise without nowadays having their ability to discharge their duties as MPs called into question. You can have your own opinions about their personal judgement but it is still a matter for their own families.

Sorry for mentioning this near Tea Time, but does the UK media recaLl the affair between John Major and Edwina Currie- YUCK!

Guess which set of Tax payers paid for their Bed and Breakfast-
Strictly No Eggs.

I particularly enjoyed this comment from not so Kosher Currie:

Mrs Currie ridiculed her former lover’s ill fated ‘back to basics’ speech which was to damage his government when a string of ministers turned out to be involved in sexual scandals.

‘Back to basics was absolute humbug, wasn’t it? And if you’re asking me whether I thought the policy was a mistake? Absolutely.

‘Somebody should have said to John, “Before you start a morality campaign, just run the slide rule past your hundred or so ministers”. But what should have been triggered in his mind was, “We’re all human, and, boy, don’t I know it”.’

Next thing they will be alleging McNeil and Hosie has an affair and Nicola and Shona are more than good friends. The gutter Press who believes the nonsense. How’s Torquil and the rest of the hypocrites getting on. How’s reptile criminal Murdoch. Tommy Sheridan went to prison for having a relationship with a consenting female before he was married. Murdoch lied about criminal activities and bribing public officials. He should go to jail.

M15
There a time and a place for it do not bring it home.

Richard Lochhead is reportedly standing done because of his wife’s cancer. Will Rennie was running around Parliament trying to get him out of office.

The Establishment/UK State are going to ramp up the pressure on the SNP via their security services and its lachies the MSM, EBC. Constant increasing unrelenting propaganda will grind them down and sap the will, that’s the plan. The three UNITED major yoon parties will be given a free run at the SNP and all the ammunition and help they can use.
So long as the people of Scotland keep their eye on the ball and their wits about them we might just squeeze through.

WE ARE A THREAT TO THEIR EMPIRE & WEALTH THEY ARE GOING TO GET VERY ANGRY!

What about politicians who are separated from their wives should they remain celibate until the divorce in finalised?

What about politicians with a marriage that is on the rocks should they remain celibate until the divorce in finalised?

What about politicians who are not married should they be celibate?

Do you think we should know about all politicians who have sex before marriage or do you think that older women and those from the Isles would be OK sex outside marriage. I’m assuming you are an expert on what ‘older women’ and ‘those from the Isles’ think.

What about the women involved in these alleged ‘affairs’ she obviously knew these men were married.

Infidelity. There is a lot of it about, all sorts partake and I suspect and can only guess that it may be more prevalent among those with both money and power.

I reckon that’s why we have the term “Sugar Daddy” and didn’t all (or nearly all) historical Princes and Kings have mistresses? Some even that were better known than their wives?

Political scandals involving adultery are not new, some stories break and some don’t. I suppose it depends on how much power the adulterers have in order to keep a lid on their misdeeds.

I will just say this though, those that we elect to represent us should have stronger morals than Joe Public. Any damage to them caused by a failure to resist temptation can also damage the principles of the party they serve.

The thing about playing Russian roulette with your political career is you may believe that your chance of escaping any meaningful consequences is better than your chance of being found out. Doesn’t always work out that way especially when you are taking on the Establishment.

An amusing observation. (Are there two of you, by the way, or is there a team?)

‘From a PR perspective, I think Hosie might consider responding to rumours circulating on social media that he wears white Y fronts.‘

People in politics might consider that ill-considered hanky-panky with manipulative, publicity-seeking sexual partners could bring down on them public ridicule from revelations of intimate details. Remember Major with shirt tucked into Y-fronts? David Mellor and his footie shirt.

Ridicule can be more withering than moral outrage. These salutary examples should be enough to prevent all caution being thrown to the winds, along with said undergarments?

The unfortunate truth is that we are all just animals. We were NOT created by God in the image of God. We are animals, just the same as earthworms, trout, blackbirds… and we have animal instincts, like it or not. They were not put there by us and we have no control over them (completely).

What concerns me a little bit more is the reshuffling of the Scottish cabinet. To me, the government looks a little… stale? Where are all the diverse new faces?

And why does the scotgov follow the very peculiar British tradition of shuffling ministers around, whereby you get the likes of former Trotskyist Darling or history graduate Broon running the Treasury? Or that useless lump of a former economics teacher (cannae mind the name) under Broon who was a Home Secretary???

The European way is to give people portfolios that are part of their professional background. And they need not even be from the party itself. Yanis Varufakis was perfect for the job to handle the Greek economy, for example. He was only forced out because the Troika did not like him (as he understand economics way better than they did).

Let’s have a European approach. If I were Wee Nicola, I would even bring in Wightman as Land Reform Minister to report back within 100 days on a plan to break up the estates and reverse 300 years of English-imposed disaster on Scotland before the end of this parliament…. and say personally to Ruth: “You wanted to provide a ‘strong opposition’, babe? Well, here’s something strong for you to oppose… do your worst, now, huff and puff, get all shouty and red in the face, it won’t dae ye any good!”

The Tories are like those Russian dolls: they are soooo full of themselves! It is time Nicola introduces them to the real world of politics… run on a European/world level, not the failed politics of Westminster/UKOK/British Raj.

IMO the reason this didn’t come to light before the election was…it would damage Nicola and the SNP more to have it play out after Nicola took office. It also makes becoming FM of Scotland a non news story..So well played yoons.

If this story came to light during the election I don’t think it would’ve had as much attention. However there is so much stuff to hide from Tory hq that this story takes the spotlight off DC and gives the SNP the headlines albeit for all the wrong reasons.

These people are completely without a doubt the most sneakiest sleazy shower of ***** that breathe. We really have to expose this poison wherever it rears its head. I think both of our MPs have been played like a fiddle, men who are perceived as being in a position of “power” usually have an ego that needs stroked. Unhappily for all involved this young woman played her part well and will be handsomely rewarded for her efforts in breaking up a family…well done, was it worth it?

I don’t feel any different about the SNP or independence. However I do feel sadness for the families and hope that they will be allowed to move on from this stupid moment in time.
Mata Hari comes to mind will men ever learn…

It’s not inconceivable that secret services have their fingerprints all over this. They have to stop us gaining support for our Independence. Make no mistake they will use every tactic they have. Buckle up guys it’s gonna get bumpy from here 😉

You can argue for exceptions but, all in all, journalism is a grubby, sordid trade, and thank goodness we have the internet now to expose it.

Journalists earn their living by selling stories. The truth doesn’t matter so much as getting people to buy them. On political matters they will prostitute any integrity they may have for their organsisation’s favour, and on human relationships they are peeping toms, selling accounts of their titillating observations.

A fair retort to any journalist questioning someone’s honesty, honour and integrity would be: “We all remember that it is the conduct of your trade which brought about the Levesen Enquiry.”

No judging Hosie and MacNeil, we are all human. Just a tad disappointed that they thought they could get away with this – the media and secret services probably have all SNP politicians’ bins checked every night for something to stick on em. Well, they got a barrow load yesterday. I don’t think they are naïve enough to think this would remain secret, so I guess they just couldn’t resist temptation. They were obviously set up – the woman involved clearly had defined motives, and not the ones that Hosie and MacNeil probably assumed. Its’ funny how old men in power and influence seem to think that it’s their irresistible charms or stunning good looks that attracts the ladies. 🙁

This much is obvious to me at least, the whole announcement across the front pages of our blessed media has been orchestrated in orde to inflict maximum damage on the SNP.

How come both SNP MP’s have been “caught” at exactly the same time. I guess this has only been possible because the female involved in both cases has probably sold her story. I think it unlikely that two affairs involving the same female were outed by the press at the same time by anyone other than one of those involved.

I see that Serena Cowdy was a graduate of Oxford, does Oxford University have a female equivalent of the Bullingdon Club?

No. I’m an atheist. But I totally respect those of religious persuasions and their values and beliefs. Equal opps, tolerance and all that.

We worked hard for those votes on the doors. And personally I loved every minute. most politicians work hard. As does the Rev in particular. When we do get Indy a lot of it will be due to him and his excellent journalism.

We are all human. But when the uk is out to get us at every turn it would be naive to think that the SNP will get the slack the other parties do. The main goal is Indy and we need the trust of the Scottish people to accomplish that. And every vote. Whether that’s from religious people or aetheists. Each vote weighs the same.

It will blow over but trust is essential to every relationship and every transaction in life. Which is why I read this site everyday. I trust wings.

Now let’s address the real matter. Convincing more of the people living here that independence is a good thing. Posting is fun and there are many intelligent comments but we need more activists on the streets, stuffing envelopes, manning stalls.

In order to print this story and make it justifiable in the public interest, the papers had to find somebody to allege some wrong doing financially and I’m hearing that the willing participant and complainant in that wee conspiracy was

Jackson Carlaw MSP Tory party deputy leader at Holyrood

As we all know Jackson is in Westminster all the time talking to all the “journalists” and the SNP MPs so he knew all about any expenses and was in a position to make the complaint to the Standards Office when he was outraged about the whole thing (this is sarcasm btw)

If only we could have an ‘expose’ of the sordid affairs of so called ‘Scottish journalists’.

Seriously, people sh*g other people, who cares.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the media is in full fling telling Scots just why they should embrace people singing songs like the abusive, racist, sectarian song ‘the billy boys’, when they go to watch footie.

It is a sad day for Scotland if the OBFA is repealed, but one which the unionists and, surprisingly, the green party will come to regret. On each and every vile abusive attack following such a repeal, Nicola Sturgeon can and SHOULD lay responsibility at the doors of the pathetic unionists and, surprisingly, greens.

It would seem the current bunch of unionists and greens have somehow forgotten the implications of acting with abandon, in an effort to score cheap political points. They did this first time around with the first SNP minority Government, and now in 2016, they have come back to repeat their same mistakes.

Sadly, it seems like now they are elected, the Greens want to ensure they will never be elected again. I actually thought Patrick Harvie might have grown up.

For those not aware of Serena Cowdy’s record, Ms Cowdy is a Scalphunter of MPs her method of stalking is to hunt down her target and sexually pressure them with, well let’s call it womanly wiles
until she succeeds in bedding them and adding them to her tally which is considerable

As she is also a “Journalist” these conquests can be stored up for later use when required or or sold on to the highest bidder, and it’s how she makes her living

Who cares who is playing hide the sausage, have you seen the price of Brussels Sprouts. “That should be news.”
Heard a wee bit of Shortbreads finest??? Kwi an E fae the Valleys (Alegedly).
Nearly drove off the road that her shitey phone in was about playing hide the sausage.
Quality Radio?!?!
Will watch Reporting Shortbread later on the I-Player any guesses Wrinkly will be “gurning” at this story also.

Haven’t read the above comments but really sickened that the Daily
Mail published the name of Hosie and Robisons daughter. Tha wee girl is innocent and having to face the very public break up of her parents marriage. She has to go to school with this all over the papers. DISGUSTING

A lesson for all MPs. The UK media is waiting, watching and investigating your every move.

Doesn’t matter that no illegal act was in issue, the media can and will use whatever they can get their hands on to destroy the SNP and by reflection damage the wider independence movement.

Scotland’s independence is perceived as a serious threat to the state and the status of the UK. The vested interests of all of the establishment, including the media, are directly affected by any thought of the UK state being diminished.

Being human and/or stupid is no excuse. Those who currently represent Scotland’s interests will be under a far higher scrutiny than any other political party simply because of the threat they pose. Both their opposition and the media will be utterly ruthless in making the most of anything they can get their grubby mits on. Careers, innocence, guilt doesn’t come into it for these people, they’ll lay waste to the lot to forward an agenda.

The press love a bit of gossip especially of the prurient sort. The story is sad for the families and it is slightly noteworthy in that two SNP MPs have had a relationship with the same journalist.

However, I don’t think it is a conspiracy or an attempt to do down the SNP. The timing could not be more kind to the SNP. The respective MPs are not up for re-election for years. Many a scandal, crisis and matters of political importance will occur before then. Nor did it hit the press before the Holyrood election, again much will happen before 2021 and I can’t see any of us, much less the general voting public, remembering this. I dare say that people like Jackson Curlew will try and milk it but as far as I can see people simply don’t care any more. Whittingdale’s trysts would have seen him on gardening leave in the 60s. Such titillation barely lasts a couple of days in the papers these days.

On balance I think this is a good thing. It probably suggests that we have become more European

Actually, I’m happy to admit that I’m at that age in life when one doesn’t so immediately recoil and turn away when one finds oneself in M&S looking at various configurations of Y Fronted pants. Something seems to stir in a man when he hits 45, a sense of destiny or something, duty even.

Hosie, in that respect, if the Y Front rumours are true, should be nominated for an award. Many of us assume that in choosing Y Fronts our days of pulling would be over.

@ heedtracker – you’re not often right on this subject but you’re wrong again.
Criticise away but don’t tell silly lies. That’s all.
I think the Greens are often politically naive and I don’t agree with them on the OBFA manifesto stance. But let’s see what actually happens. If they vote it down it will be political suicide IMO.

However, Hosie is not very powerful, not super-rich and not quite George Clooney in the looks department. So how could he possibly think that a young, attractive and ambitious ‘journalist’ was genuinely attracted to him.

Private life is one thing but displaying such rank stupidity is quite another.

Is actress cum parliamentary journalist Serena Cowdy related in any way to journalist Anthony Cowdy who co-founded the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in the 1970s? Just asking. Information about either of them seems hard to track down online.

Not that bad surely. Just a different viewpoint from yours. I really don’t care much for a number of Green policies. I just think they deserve a fair crack of the whip in parliament before passing judgement.

I also believe as Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday there are more than one Independence supporting parties in Holyrood:

“During her acceptance speech, she also reminded her Unionist opponents there remained a pro-independence majority in Holyrood, with six Green MSPs augmenting the SNP’s tally of 63.

“My passion and lifelong belief that Scotland should be independent is well known and it is enduring,” she said. “In this parliament, a majority of MSPs are from parties that support independence.”

Daily Mail inside always has huge SNP bad stuff everyday. Friday’s Heil SNP bad thing was “Outrage as Humza Yousaf insults Named Person critics” one whole page of far right rage, after BBC Question Time must have been. So how bad can it really get?

Underlying tory news rooms routine going after SNP MSP’s like Humza Yousaf, is ferocious racism online. So we’re in a whole new era of tory BBC led attack propaganda, or its all just the usual.

Jackson the tailor setting the tone of the next Holyrood session perfectly , he must have beat Wullie who was too busy in some nursery to notice how fast these tories are out of the traps , I wonder how pristine the same tories will be when the boys in blue start spilling the beans on their English MPs who are presently under investigation , the same public servants who the Tories treat with their usual respect , unintended consequences comes to mind .
Gloves off Nicola stop giving them undeserved respect , treat them the same as our MPs are treated in the English Parliament .

Indeed. It’s a favourite quotation of Stuart McHardie, who I don’t think would mind my calling him an über-oik Scottish historian. He’s quite fearless and carnaptious, and his career has probably suffered for it.

Btw, when I said “too good to be true”, I meant only from our point of view when deploying it against the Usual Suspects.

What is journalism anyway- is it a profession, a practice, institution, industry, culture or an ideology?

Journalists for example Woodward& Bernstein of Watergate and sadly the murdered journalists Veronica Guerin and Anna Politkovskaya are perhaps how we would imagine real journalists who investigate the important issues of the day and see themselves as agenda-setting mobilisers of truth and justice.

Many journalists around the world continue to risk their lives and personal security to disseminate information and remain socially committed and assertive.

cpj.org

Unlike the corporate media in this country-‘pigs in raincoats’-a phrased revived after the phone hacking scandal.
Barnett. (2011) ‘Crusaders or pigs in raincoats?’ British Journalism Review 22(3);13-15

Robertson. (2015) Media and Politics in a Globalising World

Whatever the MSM of UKOK thinks it’s doing it is a diminished and increasingly fatuous entity.

We all know the closer we get to a majority for independence the dirtiest games will be played
I posted these figures on the 6 May, when you were all greeting about no winning a majority,
Pro independence 2,164,210 = 48.77%

Against 2,273,760 = 51.23%

Gap narrows to a 1.33% swing to win independence.

No longer 45% in under two years it has become, a smidgen off 49% , at this rate it will be over 50% by the start or mid 2017. What would happen then, what shite will be playing in our corrupt media then?
Soon time to campaign for control of all councils. The union is shaking in its boots, they know it’s over for them.

Tam @ 707 control yerself man ha ha just put the glass down , you will respect yourself in the morning , or was that will you respect me in the morning oh cant bloody remember ha ha what day was it anyway .

call me dave highlighted the Swinney move to education earlier today. he had a wee smiley thing so I guess was happy with that.

Me, well I was puzzled, he has been very successful while in charge of the purse strings. I can only speculate that with Nicola Sturgeon publicly asking to be judged on her achievements with SNP policy in the next parliament term on Education then she has chosen the man she trusts most to deliver that.

Hope the new Finance and Economy ministers will be mentored by Swinney as they dap to their now role. Good luck to all three in their new posts.

Having had a reintroduction to the evil that is the vast majority of the UK’s MSM on the trip home and back, it was akin to being told your cancer has returned after your period of remission. That was how bad it felt.

Be under no illusions people, the UK’s mainstream media is – by far – *the* biggest impediment to Scotland’s independence – not the unionist parties and their supporters, Westminster or even the British Establishment, bad as they are – the UK’s MSM.

Scotland would be independent by now – a Yes vote in 2014 – had there been anything at all resembling a free, fair, impartial and unbiased MSM. As it was, it was not far off a miracle that 45% did vote Yes despite all that was thrown their way by Better Together’s unofficial but massive propaganda arm.

It’s not hard to imagine where we would be now if the propaganda roles were reversed, with 99% of the MSM backing Scottish independence…

In spite of their dwindling sales figures, the print media still has a lot of power to manipulate the population politically and morally, and to form consensuses of opinion that suit its agenda. And, it will fight even dirtier as they acknowledge that their ability to influence and control is being reduced month by month and week to week.

The broadcast media (looking at you especially, BBC) is, of course, the biggest beast of all. Cull it, or wound it mortally to replace it with an SBC, for example, would be the way forward. Yes, it’s a huge ask, and it would be difficult, but still… The will of the people for just such a change is becoming stronger. And as we know, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

@ Thepnr – I know what you mean. John Swinney has almost become “Merlin” as Alex Salmond called him. We expect him to perform miracles. But Derek McKay was also very capable in Transport so I’m sure John will mentor him.

I’m also curious about Roseanna and how she will tackle land reform. No pressure!
Fergus Ewing should be able to sort out the Farm payments IT problems and get fast broadband to everyone.

As you say, wishing them all well and looking forward to the next FMQs.

Its characteristically UKOK sleazy of our unelectable toryboys to never mention the how and why Scotland’s been lumbered by so much red and blue toryboy debt. And its debt that they either cannot or will not get under control, maybe because its a great toryboy weapon of UKOK vote No or else terrorising.

They all do it too, must be a tory unionist thing, terrify Scots with UK debt til the end of days. Pity UKOK tory zealot kevrage made such a fool of himself on telly last night.

Kevin Hague ?@kevverage May 17
I’ve had the temerity to offer @NicolaSturgeon some friendly advice

Brilliant who better to fix the education system in Scotland than John and dont worry about the economy John has been running a long term economic plan if it needs a few tweaks then he will advise,a smart move the kids are our future,i imagine the yoons just went gulp this will scare the fucking pants off them.

Now John lets see just what a mess those idiots have made in the councils ,come on indy guys you yessers we must put the SNP in charge of as many councils as we can next year ,this is the opening play get it right up you yoons.

And who slept with who nah not interested i blame being saturated with bollocks soap shows and british satire programs to the pint of not giving a shit anymore,funny how some things can backfire spectacularly lol

And yer one up there, what’s ‘er face, Libby Brooks. Don’t be taken in by her good-cop to Severin Carrell’s bad-cop routine regarding Scotland, its independence and those who are working toward making it a reality. She’s just as anti as Carrell is. Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I have total faith in our SNP leaders. I would just like to say do not trust the three yoon parties they will knife you in the back. Use them abuse them but never trust them.
As for the two MPs who the security services decided should be outed they have my sympathy and support, I don’t have a clean sheet and I’m not proud of it. I’m only flesh and blood. Learn by your mistakes it makes life so much easier.
New cabinet looks naw a bad team.

Also in that Carrell article in the Guardian, he can’t let go the chance to have a smear-and-innuendo attempt at the SNP over the ‘CONSENTING ADULTS HAVE AFFAIR SHOCKER!!’ non-shocker:

Sturgeon’s ministerial changes were overshadowed in the tabloid media by continuing controversy over the private lives of two senior SNP MPs, including Robison’s husband and deputy SNP leader Stewart Hosie, who has now separated from Robison after admitting he had an affair with Serena Cowdie, a journalist at Westminster.

Cowdie had previously had an affair with Hosie’s colleague Angus MacNeil, who left his wife last year.

MacNeil is now the subject of a complaint to Kathryn Hudson, Westminster’s standards commissioner, by the Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw over allegations that MacNeil used parliamentary expenses to claim for hotel bills during his affair with Cowdie.

Note “overshadowed in the tabloid media”… SNPBAD!, and, “continuing controversy over the private lives of two senior SNP MPs”… SNPBAD!

And the complete waste of space that is Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw getting mentioned for his “complaint”… ROFL!

Oh yes, and the numbskull Carrell can’t even get the name right of the female journalist involved in this ménage à trois, Serena Cowdy! The utterly hopeless eejit has her name as Serena Cowdie, not once, not twice – but three times! Hahahaha! Pathetic.

All run of the mill stuff, of course, from this fucking joker who has the cheek to call himself a journalist. But, hey, for sure BBC Scotland will be inviting him along to their studios soon enough for his valuable ‘opinions’…

Are you suggesting that young, poshvoiced Englishwoman who wanted to have sex with an authentic member of the Scottish working class while listening to his collection of Doris Day albums was not being completely sincere with me last week?

You’re right Tam it can work both ways and this case has pretty much slammed the door on individuals from both sides ever feeling safe in having an affair with anyone again. Anyone? We also have some great looking deed pigs up here desperate to be exported down south.

I have visions now of a couple in bed (and I stress I’m not fantasising ?) with the English politician gazing down in horror at his beautiful, sexy English rose wondering if he heard right …. ”that wis pure, dead brilliant .. ya daft numptie”.

Sex between cosenting adults is the topic this week, no vegtables were harmed in the process or the Greens would be up in arms, & mibbee’s the queen will gie up serving cucumber sannies at Holyrood garden party if it was the case.

Let’s be fair – the lass involved in this stushie isn’t an actual prostitute, is she?

So, she’s young and attractive and wants her hole. Big deal. How many shaggable Tories are there?

And Jackson Carlaw’s submitting complaints? His leader, lest we forget, isn’t shy about flinging a leg over anything to secure some space on the front pages. They don’t call her ‘Thighs Wide Shut’ for nothing…

(Okay *phew* that’s me offloaded my vulgar baggage after a full day of listening to the BBC doing likewise…Kaye Adams was soooooo loving-it this morning she must’ve left Big John Beattie with a decidedly moist seat.)

Outside Ardeer Community Centre, where he was the keynote speaker for the launch of Better Together Ayrshire (or whatever it was called) I handed him a glossy SSP leaflet which condemned his party in the most industrial language permissible on such missives. He glanced at it, smiling, then looked at me and said ‘Thank you ever so much’.

DO you think there are many people in Bulgaria who follow events in Holyrood with real care? I doubt it.

In fact I doubt whether anybody in Bulgaria had the first idea that the Scottish Government was planning to increase the minimum price of booze until Jackson Carlaw, right, of the Scottish Tories, went and told them at a meeting in Strasbourg last week.

The result is that there will now almost certainly be a European Court challenge to the plan which will delay it at best and probably destroy it.

Maybe the Tories think Scotland will be grateful for this. Certainly alcoholics and yobs out of their minds on cheap cider will be. But doctors in hospital casualty wards and people frightened to go into town centres at the weekend won’t be.

You may well be right in the thrust of your argument, but Serena (lovely name) may well be struggling at 36, being described as Freelance Journalist, Political Commentator and Political Journalist.. So why not try your hand at something else to make ends meet.

I have no idea of London rates but I would have thought a Bernie Inn with bottle of wine and £50 cash would seal the deal for an in depth investigation.

As for Jackson, he could not raise a smile let alone a ladies expectation.

“You are cracking me up. With patter like that, I’m betting you do all right.”

Flattery, eh? I see now how the sting works. One minute I’m getting flattered on a “pro-indy” website- three depraved, lascivious months later and my marriage is down the pan, I’m kicked out of the family home and I’m on the cover of the Daily Mail with a lurid headline and a picture of me wearing an SNP badge.

I’ve got YOUR number “Valerie”. It takes more than an emoticon to make me forget my commitments- to my family AND to the wider Independence movement.

Now that the Sullum Voe gas plant is operational, perhaps, that in this time of belt-tightening, & for the future, Westminster could make a deal with the operators of one of the flotels used in Shetland & berth it alongside their “palace” on the Thames. Save on taxi fares as well.
If it’s good enough for their electors surely it’s good enough for their MPs.

Slightly confused here. Not sure that simply having an affair is contrary to parliamentary standards.

The using tax payers money bit all depends on proving it. Assuming the MP wasn’t foolish to rent a hotel room for two occupants then there isn’t any. Even then if the accuser has no proof then it’s simply a waste of time.

@ Ruby, thanks for that, Jackson Karloff the clype that he is, is an arse who obviously couldn’t run a menodge, the Buffalo Girl will be at the back of this complaint, heterosexual horizontal refreshments will be banned completely at this rate.

Does anyone else think there is a possibility that this Oxford educated journalist who had the affairs with hose and mcneil, could be a security service honey trap?

I certainly wouldn’t put this beyond what MI5/6 are capable of doing, they have form for similar in the past.

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Mundell said the withdrawal bill would return powers to Scotland, it didn't, he said he'd amend the bill so it would, he didn't, he said the Lords would amend it so it would, they didn't, he said he would resign if NI got a bespoke deal, they did, he didn't.. #ScotRef /1